1. Field of the Invention
Components, such as mattresses and the like, with a fire-resistant laminate are disclosed herein.
2. Description of the Background of the Invention
For decades mattress manufacturers have been concerned with mattress fires. Tens of thousands of bedroom fires have been attributed to cigarette ignition of mattresses resulting from people smoking in bed. Tens of thousands of additional fires may be attributed to open flame ignition of mattresses. Given the large number of fires, Federal standards were introduced in an attempt to limit the spread of fires that originated on a mattress.
Studies conducted to improve the understanding of mattress fires led to the development of a test apparatus that could accurately and consistently simulate a burning bedclothes ignition source. The tests involved placing a mattress/foundation on top of a steel twin-sized bed frame which, in turn, rested on a cement fiberboard surface that formed the bottom of a catch pan. A pair of gas burners was designed to mimic the thermal impact of burning bedclothes. One burner was placed to direct a flame onto a surface top of a mattress surface while the second was placed to direct a flame onto a mattress side. The flame generated by the side burner was allowed to burn for 50 seconds while the flame from the top burner burned for 70 seconds. The fires generated by these burners were monitored and it was observed that a typical mattress reached the flashover point in approximately three minutes. Flashover is the point at which the entire contents of a room are ignited simultaneously by radiant heat, making conditions in the room untenable and safe exit from the room impossible. At flashover, room temperatures typically exceed 600-800° C. (approximately 1100-1470° F.). About two-thirds of all mattress fatalities are attributed to mattress fires that lead to flashover. This accounts for nearly all of the fatalities that occur outside the room where the fire originated and about half of the fatalities that occur within the room of origin.
As a result of these studies, at least one State enacted a regulation (Technical Bulletin 603) that required that a fire on a mattress could not exceed 25 mega joules of heat in the first 15 minutes of the fire, or a peak rate of heat release of 200 kW over a 30-minute period. A Federal regulation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission superseded the State regulation (see 16 CFR Part 1633—Standard for Flammability (Open Flame) of Mattress Sets; Final Rule, dated Mar. 15, 2006). The Federal regulation requires mattresses to not exceed either of a) a total heat release of 15 mega joules in the first 10 minutes of the test or b) a maximum heat release rate of 200 kW during the first 30 min. Further, regardless of State and Federal mattress burn standards, manufacturers of mattresses continue to develop technology to better minimize heat release during mattress fires to provide for greater consumer safety.
By reducing the size and growth rate of a fire, it is possible to reduce bed fire casualties by one-half to two-thirds. This is because extra time to escape the residence is provided. Furthermore, additional time is also provided for a person on the mattress to escape with only isolated burns, if any.
In practice, mattress manufacturers follow either or both of two approaches to fire risk reduction: (a) reduce the likelihood of sustained ignition and (b) mitigate the consequences of an ignition. To help achieve these goals, typical fire-resistant mattresses have a fire-resistant barrier located near the outer layer of the mattress, with the outer layer being made of a quilt or ticking material. A more effective approach is to manufacture mattresses that incorporate fire-resistant compartments formed by encapsulating flammable materials within layers of fire-resistant material. However, newer approaches to fire risk reduction are needed that minimize the costs of mattress manufacture while maintaining or improving fire resistance and aesthetics in mattresses.